Justin raises a most important point: the charter. I understand the situation by which the charter was adopted, but if the document is examined from the viewpoint of its purpose and function (its long-term function), then it needs to be overhauled. It may be seen by board members as 'good enough' and not deemed a top priority, but a charter needs to be highly specific for it to serve its purpose of, not only providing reference to procedure and responsibility, but guiding the intent and maintaining the focus of the club. The time spent rooting out all of the possible 'if/then' situations and containing them within the language of the charter is time saved from future debates and confusion. The club would do well to have the charter reviewed by a lawyer or someone familiar with drafting corporate charters and by-laws. Counsel pro bono might take a few phone calls, but this is something that could be made easier if the club re-invented itself as an official NPO.

In essence, the SDGA is already non-profit, but being registered as a 501(c)(7) would open the door for more funding and benefits. Has this ever been considered?

P.S. , Yoduh: The correct term is 'clubnik'

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." -- Jimi Hendrix

Comment

The Board has no plans to be a non-profit but it has been offered the opportunity from local professionals (lawyers, accountants) but our treasurer doesn't want to deal with it. I on the other hand am willing to, and very interested in gaining nonprofit status for our club. I see it as essential to fueling the growth of our club and our sport.

Comment

The Board has no plans to be a non-profit but it has been offered the opportunity from local professionals (lawyers, accountants) but our treasurer doesn't want to deal with it. I on the other hand am willing to, and very interested in gaining nonprofit status for our club. I see it as essential to fueling the growth of our club and our sport.

Whereas non-profit status would most certainly be a boon to the club, it seems to me that we need to establish who would oversee the club's non-profit status and maintain it. It takes quite a bit of time and effort to do so as well as a management plan: how active will the board need to be? What will be expected of them? Who will they manage? What are the overhead costs and what is the operating budget? Who files the taxes? Who ensures that the organization is following proper protocol to continue non-profit status? Scrutiny on financial issues is higher for a non-profit and non-compliance can land an organization in a lot of trouble. As in legal trouble. As in Federal legal trouble. Who will be responsible for keeping up on necessary and detailed paperwork? What about creating articles of incorporation? I could go on, but will stop for now.

Time, money, knowledge, and much effort is needed to create and maintain a non-profit. Many people currently involved with the SDGA have committed time and effort not to mention money. Will they then have commit more? If these duties are to fall to the treasurer than I really do not blame him for not wanting to take this on. After all, I am sure we can all agree our treasurer has already gone above and beyond the call in terms of duties, commitment, time, effort and personal financial commitment.

Gaining non-profit status creates legal concerns. Everything must be above board. There is no room for error. None at all. So before bandying about a call for non-profit status, shouldn't we be clear on what it entails and what our future would look like as a non-profit organization? This is a long term ongoing commitment. Think hard.

Comment

All the points raised are legit and need addressing before the grant shows. The main concern is how will the club control the funds? Because this info is not currently in the club bylaws That point alone would SNAFU the process from the beginning.

It seems to me that the club needs to add another committee or two to address these issues.
One needs to look at the clubs bylaws and procedures to address all these concerns BEFORE the grant should even be written. The concept of DISPURSEMENT PROTOCOL needs to be paramount

Because I live westside I am offering to help online with this process of drafting the clubs "grant strategy and protocols"

and
I certainly don't blame the Treasurer for not wanting to open yet another can of worms. The position has enough work as it is but in the end does control all the clubs purse strings. I would hate to see another DD situation arise because the club moved too quickly or impulsively disregarding checks and balances the Number 1 axiom for non profits.

Comment

The Spokane Disc Golf Association will be holding a Board meeting on Dec. 7, 2010 at 6 pm. We will be meeting at the Stadium Pizza and all disc golfers are welcome to attend. Here are some items that we will be discussing at the meeting.